Not Safe, but Good (Vol. 1): Short Stories Sharpened by Faith

by Bret Lott (Editor)

In C.S. Lewis's classic The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe , Lucy asks if Aslan the lion is safe. It is quickly clarified that Aslan is not safe...but he is good. That concept serves as the foundation for this collection of short stories. While written from a Christian worldview, our goal isn't comfort food for Christians or G-rated stories that offer simplistic lessons. Instead, we're serving up stories sharpened by faith. Stories that will engage, challenge, entertain, and stretch the reader. These stories aren't necessarily safe...but without question, they are good. From Homer Hickam, the best-selling author of Rocket Boys --which later became the movie October Sky --to editor and contributing best-selling author Bret Lott, this collection spans a talented community writing an eclectic blend of fiction. These stories will take you on a journey filled with lightheartedness, profundity, hilarity, tragedy...and ultimately hope.

Genres: Christian Fiction

282 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2007

About the author

Bret Lott is the bestselling author of fourteen books, most recently the nonfiction collection Letters and Life: On Being a Writer, On Being a Christian (Crossway 2013) and the novel Dead Low Tide (Random House 2012). Other books include the story collection The Difference Between Women and Men, the nonfiction book Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir of the Writer’s Life, and the novels Jewel, an Oprah Book Club pick, and A Song I Knew by Heart. His work has appeared in, among other places, The Yale Review, The New York Times, The Georgia Review and in dozens of anthologies.

Born in Los Angeles, he received his BA in English from Cal State Long Beach in 1981, and his MFA in fiction from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1984, where he studied under James Baldwin. From 1986 to 2004 he was writer-in-residence and professor of English at The College of Charleston, leaving to take the position of editor and director of the journal The Southern Review at Louisiana State University. Three years later, in the fall of 2007, he returned to The College of Charleston and the job he most loves: teaching.

His honors include being named Fulbright Senior American Scholar and writer-in-residence to Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, speaking on Flannery O’Connor at The White House, and having served as a member of the National Council on the Arts from 2006 to 2012. Currently he is nonfiction editor of the journal Crazyhorse. He and his wife, Melanie, live in South Carolina.

Reviews

[Robert Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

The old idiom, "you can't judge a book by it's cover" definitely applies here. I tried, and failed. I thought this book would be more Narnian, and even after reading the introduction I wasn't fully prepared for the gravity of the stories included in this collection. After reading the first two chapters, I had to realign my expectations and approach the content differently. In hindsight the title is very fitting - these are not safe stories. This is not the kind of book that leaves you with warm and fuzzy feelings. The endings can be abrupt - raw even - and Aslan does not come roaring in to save the day... but He's there, if you look for Him.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven stories, some much better than others, some disappointing.

[Jeff Krogstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s always tricky to do art with a religious agenda. It’s one thing to write stories “sharpened by faith” as the cover proclaims, but nine times out of ten the result of such efforts gets preachy and contrived. I mulled over those reflections all through this book until I reached the last two stories. These last two were excellent, haunting, powerful. I’m not ready to recommend the book too highly based on just these last two stories, but even in the company of the imperfect, the preachy or contrived, it’s possible to create art that moves the heart, that carries depth of meaning and stirs the soul, that floods you with a longing to find your own voice in a way that impacts this needy world. The effort in this collection, to create partnership between artists, between writers, in a way that speaks meaningfully to a waiting world, is certainly worth applauding and pursuing.

[Poornima Jha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deep and touching. The perspective of kids, adults, believers and non believers are all put across in the most sensitive way.

[Mia Onorato · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the story Not Safe But Good the character Peter dramatically changes his attitude from almost hating his father's bible camp to understanding that his father does it for a purpose.In the beginning of the story peter does not know that his dad runs a bible camp to help the people that come.When someone who also hates Bible camp meets him and shares her life story and how she only comes here because her parents think she has problems.Later on in the story Peter realizes that he has to go to bible camp because his parents feel that he needs spiritual help.When he realizes his purpose to become the next pastor for the Bible study he realizes he needs to get serious about his faith then the girl who said she also hated bible camp comes back into his life and he feels the need to help her understand that she also has a great purpose for her life.The reason why Peter’s attitude changes is because he feels that the purpose His father has for him is or should be greater than the feeling that he hates bible camp.Peter then tries lives out his life a pastor's kid with hope that he can help others also know that everyone has a purpose in life and all they need to do is put aside feelings and ask for Jesus to save them and then they understand who they are and they have everything with Jesus.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

It would not be an exaggeration to say that I've been looking for this book my whole life. I spent my formative years believing the only fiction that was "Christian" was about prairie women falling in love with cowboys and widowers. And, frankly, once you've read one of them, you've pretty much read them all. I was bored by the time I was in middle school.

Then I met Flannery O'Connor. And Marilynne Robinson. And Wendell Berry. All of them tell stories deeply rooted in a Christian understanding of human nature that recognizes the universality of sin and the hunger for redemption. However, their books are not books that would be sold on the "safe" Christian fiction shelves. No, these are just dangerously good books that could appeal to any reader with good tastes.

More recently I encountered a modern author named Bret Lott. He has carved out a really important niche for himself, writing excellent books that make the mainstream best seller lists. His books are rooted in Christian understandings but not preachy or predictable. I'm so grateful for the short story collections he's compiled because he's introduced me to a whole host of like-minded others. His title is so fitting--these are not safe stories, not sanitized conversion-romance stories with endings as predictable as a sunset in the west. These are good stories. And it is good to know that I'm not alone in thinking such stories ought to be told.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was chosen because of the title (reference to Aslan) and the author ( I like Jewel quite a lot). The stories are nothing like the Narnian tales and aren't even all that unsafe. A few are however, unsettling in that one might see oneself in the more complacent and self-righteous characters and it may not be pleasing. So, to that end, the editor may have achieved his goal.

[Lauryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff. It takes away from the effect to know ahead of time that the stories are going to devastate you to some extent, but at least it means you can brace yourself. We need more fiction like this.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some fictional, short stories about faith, and hope. Easy to read...some of them end as if they just stopped talking and you don't know what happens, but is still worth the read.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories whose characters all encounter God in different ways. I enjoyed this as a lighter read.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it about short stories that lends itself to weirdness? I sort of liked some of these, but didn't really get any of them. There were two readers -- the man was OK, the woman I didn't care for.